'You do have to find a job sometime, John. Now that…that Sherlock is gone you have to support yourself some way.' Misses Hudson's voice faltered, when she said his name. Every time John heard it, it was like a razor, ripping deep into his flesh, burning him with a new blow of pain.
' What's the point? I was never really worth anything without him anyway.' he had been thinking for a while. Now that Sherlock was gone, who was he? Yes, he was John Watson, a retired military doctor, but underneath that, the part that matters was a hollow void.
' Don't go talking like that, John. You are worth so much, you know you are.' John inwardly cringed at Misses Hudson's attempts to better his mood, but composed himself outwardly to fool her into leaving him alone.
'Yeah? Well, your right Misses Hudson, im going out. Ill be a moment im going to change.' he went to his bedroom and pulled on a fresh jumper and some trousers. Before leaving he went to his safe box and took out his gun. His movements were mechanical. He nodded Misses Hudson good bye and left the flat. He walked. Everything he saw reminded him of Sherlock and the pain was becoming so real. A poster for a last dog, a man with a dress coat, a little boy with dark curls, talking to his mother about a super hero as he waited in line for the tube. He was pulled out of his thoughts when the child in question tugged on his sleeve.
' mister?' the boy's large brown eyes were soft and understanding, he felt a molecule of pain leave him as he looked down on the child.
' You look like you need a super hero!' was he that obvious? Was his sorrow emanating from every pore, radiating into every one he passed?
' you… yes. Your right I do.' he smiled falsely at the boy, who's eyes lit up in excitement. He took a hand full of tiny figures out of his pockets. Putting one figure in his hand at a time.
' This is the Hulk. When he gets mad he goes " HULK SMASH!"' the little boy jumped imitating the hero, just then the train pulled up, he looked momentarily saddened and he handed a certain figure to him closing it in his palm.
" this is Green Lantern. He will protect you." with that the boy went and sat with his mother on the far side of the train. John wanted to wait for the next one. He didn't want that child to be the last one to have contact with him for what he was about to do. Then a voice came from behind him. A voice that made every hair on the back of his neck stand at attention.
'And what exactly do you think your off to do?" he whipped around to see the familiar cold blue-grey eyes and high cheekbones, to which he connected a solid sideswipe